French legislators urge intel overhaul after Paris attacks

Published 2:33 am, Tuesday, July 5, 2016

PARIS (AP) — French lawmakers say a parliamentary investigation found multiple intelligence failures before Islamic extremist attacks that killed 147 people in Paris last year, and are urging the creation of a U.S.-style counterterrorism agency.

Conservative legislator Georges Fenech, who headed the investigation commission, said all the attackers involved in the 2015 violence had been known to authorities. Some had past convictions or were under judicial surveillance.

Fenech said intelligence authorities questioned in the inquiry acknowledged failures. He recommended a national counterterrorism agency like that created in the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The lawmakers also recommended better European intelligence cooperation.

The attacks targeted a kosher market, Charlie Hebdo newspaper, the Bataclan concert hall, the national stadium and Parisian cafes.